Welcome Comrades to the 57th edition of the Dispatch This issue we have a Russian Techie making waves (and who I mistakenly cast in a German guise ), We have interviews from 2 different perspectives on the enterprising ARC. In tournaments we also have more on the TPA that is so popular among tournament players, but where Angola fails to mention the current comprehensive leader of TPA2 (yours truly ) The Foundry section also becomes more and more informative by the week, so head over there to check out all the latest tidbits about the maps we've all played, but rarely discuss. And then in that same vein, we also have the 200 maps celebration. Check it out to play the exciting Spot the Differences competition, vote on your favourite maps, and participate in the commemorative tournament.
[player]Leehar[/player] - Newsletter Executive
If you would like to apply to join the news team, please visit the thread below for more details!
Well, we don't have flag-bearers this year, but we do have a miniature section about [player]Steelhorse[/player]'s RISK Classic! I did a brief interview with the Tournament Director himself, and Dukasaur got to interview ARC Satellite Tournament winner, [player]Flow520[/player]!
On a side note, I screwed up and managed to get part of Steelhorse's interview archived, so it's all my fault that this issue is so late, none of the other fine Reporters or Executives. I will be your lightning rod of disapproval
I hope you enjoy our special Annual RISK Classic Newsletter anyway!
Meet the Tournament Winners: Satellite for the Risk Classicby Dukasaur [spoiler=interview with flow520][player]Flow520[/player] was the winner of the Satellite for the 2nd Annual RISK Classic hosted by [player]Steelhorse[/player]. It was first posted on April 25th of this year and was finished by July 1st. For this tournament, Steelhorse awarded a special prize: a ticket to the ARC itself. I've had an extensive conversation with Flow520 about it. So, what attracted you to this particular tournament?
I really like the idea of CC tournaments that are connected to real life tournaments. Last year I attended the first annual risk classic (ARC) as a CC flag bearer and had a complete blast meeting people and promoting this great site. Ask anyone who went to the first ARC: it was an amazing experience. It was simply all the world domination goodness against a high caliber of players that you could cram into a weekend. I absolutely knew I would be returning again this year. Thus, when I heard about the satellite tournament for the second ARC and the prize of a free seat, it was a no brainer.
I'm a bit curious about the ARC. How do they run it? Is it a bunch of people all playing at the same time in the same room, or is it in different rooms? Is there a lot of spectating, or is almost everyone there playing?
Well, for starters, most of the tournament information (including pictures) is available online at http://www.annualriskclassic.com. To give everyone a flavor of how epic it was, the first ARC was held in a large banquet type room so that everyone in the current round could play simultaneously. There were tables set up throughout the room each with a risk board to which entrants were randomly assigned. To keep things moving, a screen at the front of the room displayed a round count down timer (~3hr). Tables with a plethora of snack food, candy, and chilled beverages for the players lined one of the walls. The other walls were lined with tables holding really beautiful glass trophies for the tournament winners, smaller prizes for sit&go games such as boxed retail Risk boards, as well as raffle prize gift baskets centered around various themes such as sports and pop-culture. Initially, most of the spectating was by the team of coordinated tournament officials let by our own [player]Steelhorse[/player]. However, as each round progressed and games finished, spectating increased. The tables of a couple epic games lasting to the bitter end of the round as well as the finals were completely surrounded by spectators. Those uninterested in spectating, or rather more interested in continuing their quest for global domination (and prizes) enjoyed sit&go games between rounds.
I went to the website as you suggested. Read all the tournament rules (which I liked) and I also spent quite a while browsing the photo galleries. There were a couple young guys with Conquer Club shirts on. Was one of those you?
Yup, each of the flag bearers; Gilligan, Godd, RedBaron0, bristow47, cpurcell, and me were wearing CC shirts and can be found in the photo galleries.
There are also pictures of many other CC’ers as well. (aalii, arkaxow, hwhrhett, squishyg, Steelhorse, ThrushAAX, the list goes on and on)
I had no idea there were so many! I only spotted a couple.
One thing that really blew my mind is that they use Escalating cards. All my life whenever I played Risk in real life, it was always Flat Rate. I had heard of Escalating, but I thought it was some mutant strain that somebody cooked up in their basement. Not until I joined CC did I actually encounter Escalating actually being played. And now I find out that not only is it played here on CC, but it is actually played in the competitive Risk world. So, I guess, to make a question out of this, did you primarily play Flat Rate or Escalating before you went to the Risk Classic, and was it/was it not, an a surprise to you?
Short answer; not surprising at all. From what I understand, escalating spoils has always been the primary set trade method for each version dating all the way back to the 1959 rulebook. Thus, I grew up primarily playing escalating spoils. Though I'm very glad CC has flat rate spoils. I tend to prefer flat rate spoils for 8-player games on larger maps such as World2.1. CC is great that way because it offers a wide array of maps and play-styles.
Continuing along the same lines as the premise of your question, what did initially surprise me about the ARC rules was the concept of being able to trade in a set upon elimination of an opponent without the need to have 5 or more cards. This concept was foreign to me, however it is the correct play-style according to the official 1959 and 1963 rulebooks. I think it's great that the ARC is getting back to the roots of the game by using the older rule sets. It was a lot of fun; I felt it added an extra strategy dynamic to the game, as well as encouraged players to take greater risks for potentially game ending board sweeps.
And just for reference (because I often wish we could be offered this play-style here on CC ):
Elimination of Opponents section of 1959 and 1963 rulebooks wrote: "A player, who on his turn, is able to take from the board the last remaining piece of an opponent, receives at once all cards which that opponent has in his possession. He may combine them with the cards and if he can make a set, he may turn it in immediately on that same turn to collect additional armies. If, as occasionally happens, he can make two or three sets, he may also turn them in, receiving the regular increase for each set. This situation can arise only when the total of the cards which a player holds, when added to the cards of the player whom he has eliminated, equals six or more. He must turn in enough sets to reduce the number of cards which he continues to hold to four or less. These new armies must be placed on the board in the usual manner. The player may then continue to play if he wishes, or he may pass the dice to the next player."
That's certainly interesting. One more thing that I didn't know. Just a quick aside, while we're on the subject of rule changes and improvements to CC: are there any others that you support?
Ah, there are so many good ideas up for evaluation and everyone has different tastes. Just take a gander though the Submitted Suggestions forum and vote or post in support for the ones you like.
Okay, I've certainly learned quite a bit from you about the Annual Risk Classic. Let's talk a bit about the Satellite tournament itself. Tell me about some of your memorable moments from that.
I think that every game was memorable as well as unique from a strategy perspective. The tournament was just good clean riskness with the occasional dice fail mixed in. Although I was fortunate enough not to have any major dice fails this tournament. Lucky me right?
Every game ended in Round 11. Is that about normal for 4-player Risk?
I think the majority of 4 player Standard Sequential Escalating Chained Sunny games on the Classic map run between 8 and 18 rounds. Thus, I think it's not extremely unlikly for three sequential games on the above settings to end on the same round. Though, I'm sure someone could use the game finder to go through the 17k+ finished games on these settings to determine the exact statistics. Sounds like a job for a serious Risk player, not a dilettante like me....
A few personal questions, just for flavour. What is your favourite colour?
I'll be wearing it at the ARC. Come see for yourself if you're so curious
What is your quest?
To advance from the third page to the first page of the CC scoreboard.
Which is faster, a European Swallow or an African Swallow?
That depends on which bird gets stuck with the coconut...
Your soapbox: anything you want to say to the CC world?
Hmm, I suppose if I had to stand up on a soap box to say a few things: *I would promote the need for more player suggested updates to be implemented to CC. *I would also encourage everyone to sign-up for the upcoming Annual Risk Classic November 5th and 6th. It's going to be a blast! *Finally I'd like to give a quick thanks to everyone who read this far, and also to Dukasaur for taking the time to interview people each week.
Thank you very much for your time, and good luck in all your future endeavours![/spoiler]
Welcome to another edition of the Freestyle Section. We have another edition of the Scum Insider for your mafia needs and an interview with our very own [player]Dako[/player]. Much discussion about Russia and programming, with a side of akido.
As always, if you have any article ideas or would like to write for the Freestyle section, let me know.
[spoiler=Interrogation of Dako]Q. Hi Dako! Привет.
Q. Any plans to get back in a competitive clan? Not sure. Sometimes I want to get back and strive for the top but sometimes I am really happy with my game load of 6 games. I guess I will get back eventually anyway.
Q. Since you are now Head Tech, can i pm you a list of people who may need their heads examined? Of course, we have a special room with different... machines... and instruments. Yes, please send those victims good fellows to me.
Q. Have I (cachejob) thanked you recently for all of your efforts on the site (particularly greasemonkey scripts)? if not, consider this that. Thanks. And I will not moan how little gratitude we receive as a Team CC members.
Q. Favorite poster, game partner, game opponent, mod, snacktime food? There are some posters I enjoy reading. [player]Owenshooter[/player], [player]trapyoung[/player], [player]Pedronicus[/player] spring to mind. Game partners... I really like to play with [player]Ace Rimmer[/player] when we both have time to plan our moves and rock the game. [player]Chariot of Fire[/player] is the best teammate I have ever seen on this site. Next to him goes [player]cachejob[/player]. And there are like 30 more people I would team up with any day. Favourite mod, this is hard. And not because I don't like any of them. I respect following volunteers the most: [player]OliverFA[/player], [player]thenobodies80[/player], [player]Master Fenrir[/player], [player]Night Strike[/player], [player]Masli[/player]. They are all level headed, intellectual and mature. Those are like the most important qualities a good mod should possess.
Q. Are you really ''Russian'' is TOFU really ''Finnish'' is ace really himalayan cause him a layin? I don't like my nation but I am really Russian. And the only things that TOFU finished were their opponents, that were diminished. And Ace is really himalayan and I ain't no lying.
Q. Which Zangief piledriver is your favorite? After extending research on wikipedia and youtube I found the one I like the most - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2CZiApKKAY
Q. What programming languages are you proficient with? At real life I am a PHP developer. I also know JavaScript, C# and Python. Some bits of Java and a lot of different mark-up languages.
Q. Do you think lack is doing enough to maintain the site? Yes, he maintains the site well. If you think that he doesn't care you are deeply wrong.
Q. Do you think that of late some of the updates are not as important as others that have been waiting for some time now? I think most of the updates came to lack as "wow, what a cool thing, I want to do it right away" after which he was self-possessed and nothing could stop his development rush (hell yeah, I know how it feels). But soon you will see what are the real updates, that are planned, executed and impacts the whole site. Wait for the big one.
Q. What made you decide to work on the user scripts in the first place (for which many thanks)? I needed all the script myself so I wrote them. You know, it is a common practice to create nifty things that ease your life when you are a tech guy. I just decided to share them (open source forever!) and a lot of people found them useful and cool. And every CC script writer went with the same idea. No one is writing scripts they don't like for free .
Q. What made you decide to become part of Team CC? Free ftp access to exclusive porn of course.
Q. Which do you consider to be the best written script? The best written script I have ever seen was original Handy Game History which was abandoned and rescued by me. Original script can be found here (http://userscripts.org/scripts/review/12027) I haven't dig into many current scripts here but the most elegant must be Clickable Maps. BOB is very cluttered and hard to understand right now, too many functions are in there.
Q. Which do you consider to be the most useful script? Battle Observation Briefing for sure.
Q. Can you give any details on upcoming improvements? What is the point? I can only say that the next update will be logically connected to the previous updates (consider them as prerequisites).
Q. Can you say when we might be able to look forward to said improvements? I don't know the date but it looks like November or December.
Q. What Forums/Discussions to you look at mostly? Bug Reports and Clans.
Q. On a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest) How much of a geek are you? 8 I guess. I don't have a lot of geek friends or geek t-shirts (hello Sheldon). Though I like sci-fi, computer stuff and in soul I am 100% geek.
Q. On a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest) How scary is it working on the same Team with Victor Sullivan? (EDIT: for clarity - meaning Team CC) Sully is not harmful, so I'd give it 1. And I know some special moves as well so I am safe.
Q. Do you have any hobbies? Yapp. I enjoy watching movies and TV series (The Mighty Boosh being the ultimate #1, Doctor Who is the normal #1). I also practice and teach aikido. I read a lot of books, fiction and professional both. And I adore board games of any format. I am also weak to animations, seen more than 1000 anime episodes and have read a lot of mangas.
Q. What's your favourite colour? #4B0082 and #191970
Q. What's your dream job? I would love to work as a CEO of some international IT giant. And run few of my own sites as a hobby. When I retire I plan to spend my time teaching people aikido and having a well-deserved rest.
Q. What do you do when you're not on CC? I work, I study for my PhD in IT, I teach aikido, I watch series and animations, I hang out with my friends and I do a lot of rubbish things that eat away my time.
Q. Do you like sports? If yes, what are your top 3 (in order) I like doing sports but I am not a sports fan at all. So I love aikido, swimming and snowboard. Sometimes enjoy watching some poker tournaments.
Q. If you had to choose one of the following jobs, which would you choose and why? a) High Salary, terrible job b) Medium Salary, ok job c) Low Salary, great job I despise working on something I don't like. I also despise being short on money so I'd choose b). But of course I am one of the few people that have high salary and a great job .
Q. If I (slowreactor) wanted to start writing scripts for this site, what would I have to learn? (I think XML's a big one, but I'm not sure what else I would need). You got to learn JavaScript. XML is only a markup language and is very easy to understand.
Q. Why did you play Medvedev like that? Because our government is engulfed in corruption and rots on the inside. Surprised?
Q. Mother Russia or Father Time? FATHER TIIIME!
Q. How long until you join us at Empire? Uh, no matter how much I didn't want to emerge in the same clans it looks like the most obvious endpoint for me.
Q. Why is TOFU now a social clan. Was is an amicable socialization or was there some disagreements that preempted the decision? Unanimous amicable decision. Because we wanted to be friends more than pros and being pros went against some of our beliefs.
Q. Would you please make me (Ace Rimmer) an iPhone app for cc? Please send me an iPhone for testing purposes, 500$, and you will have your app.
Q. Ass or breast man? I like booty but I worship breasts.
Q. Is it offensive to you if I (Ace Rimmer) tell you that your sister is hot? Nope, because I do have a sister and because she is hot.
Q. What is your next script? Or are you working more behind the scenes now? You will see .
Q. Do you have an iPhone or other smartphone? I have some crappy HTC phone but I have never installed any apps there. I need a phone to make calls and write texts only.
Q. Are you Putin? Are you sitting for Putin for two terms and then giving up your seat to him? Oh, would it be smart for me being a Putin to unveil my cover? Hahaha, no, I am not Putin.
Q. Is DAKO an acronym for something too awesome for CC, or could you enlighten us on what it stands for? It is not an acronym, just a nickname my sister gave my like 10 years ago. Stuck to me :\. And I hate forums where you need to have username longer than 6 symbols. I HATE THEM.
Q. Why did TOFU go social? Because Chariot of Fire stopped taking our turns :'(.
Q. Thanks for your time Dako! Cheers.[/spoiler]
Hello again my friends and welcome to your favorite part of the Newsletter, "War Games", where you can find information about CC Tournaments!
Below you will find angola's TPA Update in its usual spot. Although Season One of the TPA is close to being finished, it is far from over. There are going to be photo-finishes, both between the first and second spot, and between the third and fourth. Have a look at angola's article and see for yourself!
Speaking of the TPA, if it's TPA Season Two you're interested in, you will find some in sonicsteve's Join This? Or Not! feature. Among his recommendations are two TPA tournaments including (if I can be forgiven for blowing my own horn a bit) my very first TPA event.
You may look in vain, however, for the Meet the Tournament Winners interview. Did we fail to produce one? No, in fact there is a MTTW interview, with [player]Flow520[/player] but it is up above in our special feature on the Annual Risk Classic.
Hello! Hello! Sully here with another fully-stocked Cartographic Surveillance, including a special interview with the 200th mapmaker, [player]Seamus76[/player]! MarshalNey has taken over the "Stampage Update" and turned it into "Stamps & Rumors" (with the help of koontz1973), koontz finishes off his 3-part article series, OliverFA also talks about revamps (Hm, I wonder why...? ), and thehippo8 examines maps that have been sadly dropped due to real life circumstances. Next issue, isaiah40 should have a briefing for all you Foundry buffs about what exactly happened to [player]Industrial Helix[/player] and more! Enjoy, folks!
BoganGod returns to the clan team this issue, with his enterprising column, this time dealing with the messaging ailments that afflict the popular species of clan leaders, and lets be honest, most of us should recall some type of carbon copying we hate. And then I give a rundown on whats been happening on the Cup front in the clan scene, so if you'd like to know whats the down-low in your clan tournament, thats what you need to check.
Also of note is that after weeks of controversy and excitement in the IA vs Pack match-up, where even admin [player]King Achilles[/player] had to step in, the thread has seemed to have quietened down for the better, while still heading for a tense finale as the Pack looks to have the edge in the end-of-war run-in, and with some enterprising banter that seems to be more well taken in the dignified manner it should always have been.
And then this weeks shout-out goes to all-time top 100 candidate and another RA member, [player]jsnyder748[/player] for getting his first star! If you want to share your tales of success and tribulations in the clan world, pm me! There are many exciting clan wars being under-represented currently with all the Cup action, so tell us your first-hand experiences of the amazing battles that make clans such a thrilling experience.
Stay Tuned for the next issue of the ConquerClub Dispatch for an interrogation of [player]Pander88uk[/player]. Post any questions you may have for them here --> Interrogation with Pander88uk
Submitting Your Own Articles
If you have a story you think the ConquerClub Community would find interesting, you can submit your articles to [player]nagerous[/player] and you may just see your article published in the Newsletter!
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“In the beginning God said, the four-dimensional divergence of an antisymmetric, second rank tensor equals zero, and there was light, and it was good. And on the seventh day he rested.”- Michio Kaku
Every time when i see Classic Art map,i remember how some people avoide all foundry process and be above all other map makers,creating something what its very bad, and then get 6 medals instead 2. Now these is camouflaged with Special Contribution Medal for classic art. If i create these i will kick these medal imediatly,because these not worthy to get any kind of medal, unfortunatly some people like to have more medals. These map deserve to be awarded with minus 6 medal not plus 6 medal. I only can hope that Thenobodie will never alove that these behavior of CA and Foundry foreman never again hepend,and that one day all 6 person give these medal back to lack, because these is not something what they be proud. I still have issue with mine contribution medal for map foundry. I need to contact thenobodies.
there is no time limit for good act, and probably need to pass even more years,for example you can show that the first sign of goodwill and to give up the medal. For instance i try to get rid of mine Special contribution medal for map foundry,because i get these from MrBeen, and i dont know for what,and what its worst there is nowhere any announcment, and like i say,im all ready awarded with map medals, and i dont want to be holder of these contribution medal. As long you hold these medal i will never come back in map foundry, and as long they refuse to remove mine special contribution medal, these will also be opstacle to mine return to map foundry. Maybe these look like lost battle,but one day justice will win,and you and other 5 will realised that these medal its something what you dont deserve, making the right and honorable move.
Nonetheless, this remains a discussion off-topic to this thread. By all means discuss the true glory of the foundry highlighted in our articles, but try not to dredge up these other things
qwert wrote:there is no time limit for good act, and probably need to pass even more years,for example you can show that the first sign of goodwill and to give up the medal. For instance i try to get rid of mine Special contribution medal for map foundry,because i get these from MrBeen, and i dont know for what,and what its worst there is nowhere any announcment, and like i say,im all ready awarded with map medals, and i dont want to be holder of these contribution medal. As long you hold these medal i will never come back in map foundry, and as long they refuse to remove mine special contribution medal, these will also be opstacle to mine return to map foundry. Maybe these look like lost battle,but one day justice will win,and you and other 5 will realised that these medal its something what you dont deserve, making the right and honorable move.
Maybe its your intention, but you make me sad. Of course you deserve your medal ... why do you say you don't? Remember that a contribution medal is a contribution medal and nothing more. It's not like you have been awarded a VC! Mind you, a bit like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory maybe by offering your medal back you will win the whole factory? LOL No seriously Quert you make a huge contributionand the foundary would not be the same without it! Not sure what is going on for you right now but you do have supporters so chins up!
Leehar wrote:The Foundry section also becomes more and more informative by the week...
I usually try to read the parts of the newsletter that interest me (but am not always successful at completing this). I enjoy the interrogations (and this one with [player]Dako[/player] was no exception) and other sections, but I've never commented before ( Sorry, you guys do a great job!).
I have to say now, though, that I agree with [player]Leehar[/player]. The Foundry section (always one of my favorites) was fantastic this issue. Love the new "Stamps & Rumors". Well written and informative!
Thanks all, for keeping the community in the loop. This really is becoming a must read (just have to find the time).
Leehar wrote:The Foundry section also becomes more and more informative by the week...
I usually try to read the parts of the newsletter that interest me (but am not always successful at completing this). I enjoy the interrogations (and this one with [player]Dako[/player] was no exception) and other sections, but I've never commented before ( Sorry, you guys do a great job!).
I have to say now, though, that I agree with [player]Leehar[/player]. The Foundry section (always one of my favorites) was fantastic this issue. Love the new "Stamps & Rumors". Well written and informative!
Thanks all, for keeping the community in the loop. This really is becoming a must read (just have to find the time).
Your comments are much appreciated, Ffraid! Glad you liked it! You know, you should venture into the Foundry yourself sometime
qwert wrote:there is no time limit for good act, and probably need to pass even more years,for example you can show that the first sign of goodwill and to give up the medal. For instance i try to get rid of mine Special contribution medal for map foundry,because i get these from MrBeen, and i dont know for what,and what its worst there is nowhere any announcment, and like i say,im all ready awarded with map medals, and i dont want to be holder of these contribution medal. As long you hold these medal i will never come back in map foundry, and as long they refuse to remove mine special contribution medal, these will also be opstacle to mine return to map foundry. Maybe these look like lost battle,but one day justice will win,and you and other 5 will realised that these medal its something what you dont deserve, making the right and honorable move.
Ffs, they're virtual medals... they're nothing but imaginary things represented by a few pixels on your profile. Get over it.
), We have interviews from 2 different perspectives on the enterprising ARC.
)
Though I'm very glad CC has flat rate spoils. I tend to prefer flat rate spoils for 8-player games on larger maps such as World2.1. CC is great that way because it offers a wide array of maps and play-styles.
):
